A CANCER survivor who had his leg removed during his illness is spearheading research into a revolutionary false limb.

Glenn Johnstone was in so much pain following years of complications after a tumour was removed from his right limb that he had his leg amputated on doctors’ advice.

Glenn’s initial treatment to remove the growth was successful, but it eventually led to a number of agonising infections which plunged the former postman’s life into misery.

A procedure to insert a pin into the deteriorating limb was unsuccessful and eventually the 41-year-old was asked to make a decision that would change his life forever.

But three years later, the father-of-two, from Stanley, County Durham, is enjoying a new chapter after being given the opportunity to test a pioneering new prosthetic limb.

The false leg includes a knee joint and, unlike many prosthetic limbs, artificial tendons which allow the user to experience freedoms unheard of with previous technology.

And it means Glenn can get back to his hobby of riding his mountain bike around County Durham and Northumberland.

He said: “It’s amazing. Sometimes it feels like I’ve got my leg back. It’s like a new start. It’s allowed me to do so much more. I had to get rid of my car because I’m not able to drive anymore, but I’m really into walking and I’m into bikes.

“I’ve even done the Big Durham Ride, and raised £2,000 in two weeks for Help for Heroes and Cancer Research. That was 26 miles.”

Glenn’s new lease of life is thanks to an organisation called PACE Rehabilitation and a new artificial limb called the Bartlett Tendon, after its American inventor Brian Bartlett, himself an amputee.

Since his amputation, Glenn started an online forum called Facebook Amputees, where people who have lost limbs communicate from around the world.

His contacts eventually led him to the developers of the revolutionary new false leg, and he is hoping he will be given the limb on a permanent basis after becoming the first man in the UK to complete a successful trial. It is a happy development for Glenn, who has endured years of pain and disappointment.

“It’s been really difficult. I had to move back in with my parents and when I was ill my mum passed away through cancer,” he said.

“But it’s made me the person I am today. I’m very positive and determined.

“It’s an exciting time for the technology at the moment with all the injured troops coming back from Afghanistan.

“I sometimes feel really lucky that I’ve only got one leg off. Almost every time I go to the shops someone will stop me and ask if I’m a soldier.”